For the Containment of Infectious Diarrhea:

What is C. difficile (Infectious diarrhea)?

C. difficile is an anaerobic grampositive, spore-forming, toxin producing, bacillus[bib1bib] C. difficile spores can survive up to 5 months in the environment and withstand drying and heat, as well as many disinfectants[bib2bib]

Where is C. difficile found?

• It is primarily a nosocomial infection[bib3bib]
• C. difficile can be cultured in rooms of infected individuals up to 40 days after discharge[bib1bib].
• Patients infected with C. difficile develop diarrhea [bib4bib]
• There is an alarming increase in the prevalence and severity of hospital-acquired C. difficile partially due to the emergence of new strains of C. difficile [bib1bib]

How is C. difficile transmitted in the ICU’s?

• Patient to patient via healthcare staff [bib2bib]
  
  
• Contaminated Environment [bib2bib] :
      - Bathroom       - Bed pans      - Commodes     - Equipment

Implications for hospitals:

In 2001, researchers at Harvard Medical School estimated that C. difficile costs at least $1.1 billion in the US each year [bib1bib] Patients with C. difficile-associated diarrhea extend hospital lengths of stay [bib5bib] - ~ 3 days longer - treatment costs for secondary case patients add a mean of $13,675 (2007)

% Increase of Patients Discharged with C. difficile7

• 14% of patients with C. difficile-associated diarrhea have at least one readmission within the next 2 years [bib6bib]

Why Flexi-Seal^® Fecal Management System (FMS)?

A simple, closed system All disposable, single patient use Designed to minimize the exposure of infectious waste materials

• Learn more about Flexi-Seal^® FMS
• Flexi-Seal^® FMS directions for use
• The challenge of skin breakdown
• The challenge of patient care

References [+]

1. Blossom DB, McDonald C. The challenges posed by reemerging Clostridium difficile infection. CID. 2007; 45:222- 227.
2. Blossom DB, McDonald C. The challenges posed by reemerging Clostridium difficile infection. CID. 2007; 45:222- 227.
3. Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. Clostridium difficile: a sometimes fatal complication of antibiotic use. http://www.psa.state.pa.us/psa/
   lib/psa/advisories/v2n2june2005/
   vol_2-2-june-05-article_a-clostridium_difficile.pdf. Accessed February 26, 2008.
4. Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. Clostridium difficile: a sometimes fatal complication of antibiotic use. http://www.psa.state.pa.us/psa/
   lib/psa/advisories/v2n2june2005/
   vol_2-2-june-05-article_a-clostridium_difficile.pdf. Accessed February 26, 2008.
5. Hurley BW, Nguyen CC. The spectrum of pseudomembranous enterocolitis and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162(19):2177-2184.
6. Hurley BW, Nguyen CC. The spectrum of pseudomembranous enterocolitis and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162(19):2177-2184.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Clostridium difficile Information for healthcare providers”. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/id_cdifffaq_hcp.html. Accessed: 2/26/2008.
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Clostridium difficile Information for healthcare providers”. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/id_cdifffaq_hcp.html. Accessed: 2/26/2008.
9. Kyne L, Hamel BM, Polavaram R, Kelly PC. Health Care Costs and Mortality Associated with Nosocomial Diarrhea Due to Clostridium difficile. Clinical Infection Disease. 2002:34:346-53.
10. Kyne L, Hamel BM, Polavaram R, Kelly PC. Health Care Costs and Mortality Associated with Nosocomial Diarrhea Due to Clostridium difficile. Clinical Infection Disease. 2002:34:346-53.
11. O’Brien JA, Lahue BJ, Caro JJ, Davidson DM. The emerging infectious challenge of Clostidium difficile-Associated Disease in Massachusetts hospitals: clinical and economic consequences. Infection control and hospital epidemiology. 2007, 28(11): 1219-27.
12. O’Brien JA, Lahue BJ, Caro JJ, Davidson DM. The emerging infectious challenge of Clostidium difficile-Associated Disease in Massachusetts hospitals: clinical and economic consequences. Infection control and hospital epidemiology. 2007, 28(11): 1219-27.
13. McDonald LC, Owings M, Jernigan DB. Clostridium difficile infection in patients discharged from US short-stay hospitals, 1996-2003. Emerging Infectious Disease. 2006; 12(3):409- 15.
14. McDonald LC, Owings M, Jernigan DB. Clostridium difficile infection in patients discharged from US short-stay hospitals, 1996-2003. Emerging Infectious Disease. 2006; 12(3):409- 15.